Concept2 Forum

I'm considering getting a BikeErg. I have questions about the force curve on the PM5 on the bike erg; What does the force curve look like? A sine wave, perhaps. I display my rower force curve when I row to keep my stroke consistent and prevent lapsing into bad habits. Could I do the same thing with the bike erg force curve to improve my cycling efficiency? Since cycling is a continuous motion, rather than intermittent like the rower, does the force curve move across the screen or just change constantly?

Thanks!

I cannot answer most of your questions because I don't use a BikeErg. One question I can answer is how the force curve should look like. For a cyclic motion, the equivalent to force is torque. There is no zero torque while pedalling because even at the 12hr and 6hr position a cyclist produces torque. So the 'force' curve should look like a positive wave with two maxima for every rotation. I have taken the graph below from a paper from J.C. Quintana-Duque et al. in Int. J. Computer Science in Sports, 2015. Pedalling speed 60 rpm. Stationary bike, not a BikeErg.